{"id":11716,"date":"2016-04-03T08:11:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T15:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ttinvent.com\/?p=11716"},"modified":"2016-04-13T13:43:12","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T20:43:12","slug":"083-the-longterm-view-with-peter-skillen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/?p=11716","title":{"rendered":"083 – The Longterm View with Peter Skillen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n\n\n
\n

The Longterm View with Peter Skillen<\/h2>\n

“Honestly through high school and those levels of school, I wasn’t a great student. \u00a0I was an average student, not a great student. \u00a0It wasn’t ’til I started teaching that I fell in love with learning.” –Peter Skillen<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

<\/i> Leave a Review in iTunes<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Get updates every week. <\/span>
\r\n Subscribe in iTunes, YouTube, or Libsyn!<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

[In This Episode<\/a>][Guest Bio<\/a>][Additional Notes<\/a>][Text Transcript<\/a>]\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

In This Episode<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Guest Bio<\/span><\/h3>\n

Peter Skillen<\/strong> is a learner & he is\u00a0a teacher. Simple. The two, for him, are inseparable and part of the whole.<\/p>\n

\"\"After 4 decades in the K-12 field, Peter is now the Manager of Digital Age Learning\u00a0with the YMCA of Greater Toronto. This is similar to his\u00a0previous role in planning the professional development for teachers in a school district in Toronto.<\/p>\n

However, he still is\u00a0deeply involved in educational practice through the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the Ontario Teachers\u2019 Federation (OTF), the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO) &, of course, in online learning spaces.<\/p>\n

Peter has been using computers with kids & teachers since 1977. He has seen many \u2018saviour\u2019 technologies come and go. So he sticks to his\u00a0roots although he enthusiastically welcomes new developments. He advocates models of learning which engage a learner\u2019s natural \u2018desire to know\u2019 &, therefore is\u00a0focused on social-constructivist uses of ICT in education.<\/p>\n

In the early 80s Peter introduced project-based telecommunications to the Toronto school district through such applications as: FrEdMail, National Geographic\u2019s Kids\u2019 Network, GlobalLab, I*EARN, ThinkQuest, Orillas, CitySpace, Canada\u2019s SchoolNet & Global SchoolHouse.<\/p>\n

In 2000, Industry Canada & LCSI contracted Peter\u00a0as Lead Designer of Journal Zone \u2013 a collaborative online journal \u2013 software that he conceived earlier in his\u00a0studies.<\/p>\n

In 2003, the YMCA of Greater Toronto hired Peter\u00a0as curriculum leader for the YMCA Academy \u2013 a new secondary school focused on an holistic, constructivist and equitable approach to learning and teaching.<\/p>\n

The difference between \u2018learning in school\u2019 & \u2018learning outside of school\u2019 has always been a passionate interest \u2013 although this dichotomy often has led him\u00a0into conflict with the \u2018system\u2019. Nevertheless, Peter tries to retain optimism and sense of humour.<\/p>\n

\"Click<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"Peter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Additional Notes<\/span><\/h3>\n


Connect with Peter<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

Favorite Quote…<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

“If the role of the computer is so slight that rest can be kept constant, it will also be too slight for much to come of it.”
–Seymour Papert<\/p>\n

“You can\u2019t separate intellect and feelings in the work of the mind.”
–Eleanor Duckworth<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen students are treated as Pawns they don\u2019t learn, they misbehave.When teachers are treated as Pawns they don\u2019t teach, they become drill sergeants.\u201d
–DeCharms, 1977<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

A Teacher Who Inspired…<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

Seymour Papert has probably had the biggest impact on my approach to education \u2014 complemented by my studies of ‘knowledge building communities’ with Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter.<\/p>\n

It was really an intersection of these people that informed my practice over the last 35 years.<\/p>\n

Seymour spoke eloquently of system change and advocated for kids to construct \u00ad both artifacts and meaning. He also, of course, developed Logo and turtles (along with others) to help kids to realize this reality. Marlene and Carl also developed systems and cultures for classrooms which empowered kids to build their own meaning and, indeed new knowledge, not just as individuals\u2014but, as a community of learners.<\/p>\n

I am fortunate to have spent much time with these three folks and learned to struggle to build such environments in my own way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Something Peter\u00a0Made Recently…<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

The last thing I made was a picture story book for my granddaughter for Christmas. ;\u00ad)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Something Peter\u00a0Learned About Recently…<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

The most significant thing I learned to do in recent times was to ‘flare’ as you are coming in for a landing when paragliding. I learned that lesson by not doing it effectively! ROFL<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PeterText Transcript Coming Soon!<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

“[Peter talking about programming with little kids] These little kids were standing around together, and when it worked, their eyes lit up, their shoulders squared, their heads raised. \u00a0When it failed, they said, ‘Let’s figure it out.’ \u00a0They’d solve it, and there’d be cheers. \u00a0This was a moment when I realized that hard stuff was ok. \u00a0They liked hard stuff. \u00a0They just didn’t like the ‘school hard stuff’ which was totally disconnected from their lives.” –Peter Skillen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

“Honestly through high school and those levels of school, I wasn’t a great student. \u00a0I was an average student, not a great student. \u00a0It wasn’t ’til I started teaching that I fell in love with learning.” –Peter Skillen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

“Why are processes so hard to classify? In earlier times, we could usually judge machines and processes by how they transformed raw materials into finished products. But it makes no sense to speak of brains as though they manufacture thoughts the way factories make cars. The difference is that brains use processes that change themselves \u00d1 and this means we cannot separate such processes from the products they produce. In particular, brains make memories, which change the ways we’ll subsequently think. The principal activities of brains are making changes in themselves. Because the whole idea of self-modifying processes is new to our experience, we cannot yet trust our commonsense judgments about such matters.” –Marvin Minsky, Society of Mind<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

“The principal activities of brains are making changes in themselves.” –Marvin Minsky, Society of Mind<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Click<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Longterm View with Peter Skillen [In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript] In This Episode Do kids really secretly enjoy hard problems? What happens when we let children control their own learning? What can US educators learn from Canadian educators? …<\/p>\n

083 – The Longterm View with Peter Skillen<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[337,389],"tags":[788,787,584,786,390,784,656,475,785,789],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/083-Peter-Skillen_circle.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9PzL0-32Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11716"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11716"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12450,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11716\/revisions\/12450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/developinginnovators.com\/education\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}